The Big One That Got Away

Tracks:

Players:

Paul Slavens

Steve Brand

Gary Muller

Earl Harvin

Mike Dillon

Review by Christian Huey

Dallas’ Club Dada probably hadn’t seen a better show all year, and although The Big One Is Coming may be Ten Hands’ defining musical document, it doesn’t tell the whole story of what went down that day in May 1989. Thankfully, seven years later, Clubland Records released The Big One That Got Away in the wake of the band’s effective demise. Culled from the original Club Dada recordings, Got Away features 11 tracks, which, for one reason or another, didn’t make the cut on the original album.Ten Hands followers will immediately recognize staples like “Love Is the Question” and “Bushlock Sadie,” as well as embryonic versions of later songs like “What Is a Man” and “Trip to Carrollton.” All in all the material isn’t quite as strong as The Big One Is Coming, and the band is given to exceedingly lengthy flights of fancy, but this is still Ten Hands in top form. Two tracks in particular make the release worth the while to any fan: a bouncy little piano pop number called “Come Awake,” and an extended version of the “Pollution Song” (or is that the Exxon Song?) that flies into an unexpected tangent: a convincing parody of the Beastie Boys, with the fitting refrain: “ya start thinkin’, ya start movin’.” The crowd at Club Dada that day was doing both.